Cling to Me
by resentfull
Summary: The war is not over, and the wizarding world is full of pain and anguish. Hermione Granger is still with the order of the phoenix, but she is beginning to lose hope. Draco Malfoy is a member of Voldemort's inner circle, but he wants the war to end and preferably in his favor.


"Vanuske"

The man lying on the floor writhed in pain, his teeth were clenched together so tightly it was a surprise they hadn't broken. Blood was pouring out of him, coating the floor and filling the room with a vile coppery scent. The man screamed out, it was a yell of desperation. It was the sound of fear, and it echoed through the room.

"Draco, dear clean up your mess." Bellatrix threw her head back as she laughed, but it was the wrong sort of laugh. Her laugh, it was raw and unhinged. Much like her, actually.

With a flick of his wand the floor was spotless once more and Draco stepped back returning to his spot at the table, avoiding the lifeless eyes of Terry Boot. Draco's stomach churned as he glanced once more at the broken body of the former Ravenclaw. Steeling himself, forcing away all thoughts of weakness. Draco could not afford to be unsure, it was far too dangerous to show anything except complete devotion towards the dark lord. Despite the fact that Terry was a pureblood he had tried to evade the death eaters, refusing to join their ranks. Voldemort did not allow anyone to escape. It was join him, or die.

"As you can see resistance is not taken lightly. I hope you all consider that." Voldemort hissed, his eyes passing over his most trusted followers before settling on Draco with an unsettling gleam in his eye. "Well done Draco, I'm pleased with your performance on this task. Disappointing that I can't say the same for you, Lucius." Draco watched as his father trembled beside him in fear. Draco inwardly sneered with disgust towards his father, he was a pitiful man. He was weak, he couldn't protect Draco or his mother from the death eaters and for that reason he had lost all respect for him.

"My lord, I can promise that this will never happen-" Lucius spoke with the voice of a broken man, and Draco couldn't help but wonder what Azkaban had done to the proud Lucius Malfoy from his childhood.

"Enough. You are all dismissed." Voldemort was angered by Lucius' obvious weakness, a trait which he despised in his followers.

* * *

><p>The war had been hard on everybody. There had been many deaths, too many deaths. At times Grimmauld Place felt more like a hospital than a safe house. There was so much suffering and no one had been untouched. The list of casualties was long Arthur Weasley, Hannah Abbott, Katie Bell, Colin Creevey, Luna Lovegood, and many more members of the order had died at the hands of the Death Eaters. Ginny Weasley had been in a coma for over two months and everyone was beginning to lose hope of her ever waking up.<p>

Hermione felt trapped, after she had been struck by Dolohov's curse during a recon mission she had been stuck inside grimmauld place for nearly a week. She longed to feel the fresh air against her skin, but instead was forced to watch her friends leave on dangerous missions and worry if she would ever see them again.

Walking into the kitchen dejectedly, expecting it to be empty, Hermione came face to face with Pansy Parkinson. Pansy had joined the order after the Battle of Hogwarts leaving behind her family and everything she had ever known. At first Hermione had been wary of the girl, but she had proven her value time and time again in battle. Hermione still didn't know what to think of her, but she would keep an open mind for Harry. In the months since she arrived Harry and Pansy had grown rather close. Hermione remembered how Ginny had worried that the two of them were more than just friends. At the time Hermione had thought it ridiculous, but with Ginny in a comatose state it seemed that Harry and Pansy were closer than ever. _Who was she to judge?_ War was agonizingly painful, and everyone needed a way to distract themselves from the pain.

"Morning Granger." Pansy raised her mug in salute with a grin.

"Its 3:00 AM, I'd hardly call that morning, Parkinson." Hermione tried her best to manage a smile, but it didn't quite meet her eyes like a real smile would.

"I should be saying that to you, do you ever even sleep?" Pansy chuckled softly, but her face quickly lost the confident mask and Pansy looked more vulnerable than Hermione had ever seen her. " I know that you don't really trust me, but you're Harry's friend. His best friend, and well I think you need to know that I love him and...and he loves me too. Harry wants to tell you, but he's...afraid of how you'll react, it's tearing him apart."

"It's between the two of you, I don't want to be involved." Hermione felt anger bubbling in her veins, she felt anger that she couldn't explain. It took all her power not to scream at the witch standing opposite her with pain shining in her eyes. Exercising a level of self control that she didn't know she had Hermione stood and slowly turned from the table, intending to leave the room.

"Granger, if you could just say something, I know everyone would listen to you and..." Pansy spoke desperately.

"Stop. I will not fight your relationship with Harry, but that does not mean i'll help you. I'm glad that someone has managed to find happiness in this godforsaken hellhole, but I will not help you defend your relationship while people are dying. Everywhere around us people are suffering, so I'm sorry if I find that a little more important than you and Harry fucking. I also want you to remember that Ginny is and always will be my friend even if she isn't here." Hermione's voice was calm but it held a bitter metallic edge and her eyes were hard and unfriendly. She wasted no time before stalking out of the room, afraid to let Parkinson see the tears that threatened to run down her cheeks.


End file.
